Weekly Ocean News

DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK THREE: 5-9 February 2007

Ocean in the News

(Thurs.) The seaside air could be cloned -- Scientists at the University of East Anglia have discovered that a single gene from microbial bacteria obtained from the North Norfolk coast appears to be responsible for the emission of dimethyl sulfide, a gas that is responsible for the characteristic smell of seaside air. [EurekAlert!]
(Thurs.) Tracking Earth's water by satellite -- A team of scientists from the University of Colorado at Boulder and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have employed the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer on NASA's Aura satellite to track the origin and movement of water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere, thereby providing an additional view of the role of the hydrologic cycle in affecting planetary climate. [NASA Earth Observatory]
(Tues.) Sister sanctuaries linked to protect endangered whales -- Officials with NOAA and the environmental agency for the government of the Dominican Republic recently announced that a sister sanctuary relationship has been created between the NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary off the Massachusetts coast and the Marine Mammal Sanctuary of the Dominican Republic to provide conservation programs for endangered humpback whales who routinely migrate the 3000 miles between these two sanctuaries. [NOAA News]
(Tues.) Whaling protesters considered pirates -- The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-whaling group, claims that the British government plans to deregister its ships used to intercept the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean, an action that would make these vessels "pirate ships." [ENN]
(Tues.) Offshore wind resource is located -- An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Delaware and Stanford University report that their wind power study has shown that winds off the Middle Atlantic coast could provide a resource that would be sufficient to not only supply the current needs of nine coastal states and the nation's capital, but also support a 50 percent increase in future energy demand. [University of Delaware]
New February outlook considers weakening El Niño -- Scientists with the Climate Prediction Center recently announced that they have revised their February outlook due to a weakening of the anomalous atmospheric and oceanic circulation regimes identified as an El Niño event, as detected by a return of water temperatures over the equatorial Pacific Ocean toward readings that were close to the long-term averages. While chances are highly likely that much of West could experience above average February temperatures, sections of the Middle Atlantic States appear to have a better than even chance of below average temperatures for February. The Southeast would have a good chance of near normal temperatures, while the rest of the country was thought to have equal chances for either below or above average temperatures. The researchers feel that many areas across the southern sections of the nation have a good chance of experiencing above average February precipitation, while sections of the Pacific Northwest and a large section of the Midwest, including the mid and upper Mississippi Valley, along with the western Great Lakes could have a dry February. [NOAA News]
Long-awaited climate report released -- Last Friday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued the first part of its report detailing the findings by a large group of climate scientists that describes the latest on human-caused global warming and future worsening climate conditions. [CNN]
- This authoritative report is based on six years of new observations and analyses. The "Summary for Policy Makers" is available as a 21 page pdf file. [IPCC Executive Summary] The earlier report by this panel was IPCC 2001 Summary: "The Definitive Scientific Basis for Global Warming".
- The American Meteorological Society issued an Information Statement on Climate Change that summarizes many topics covered in the IPCC report, in a shorter text and without figures. [American Meteorological Society]
- Researchers from NOAA, along with technology from this agency, have made significant contributions to the report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last Friday. [NOAA News]
- The effect of clouds upon Earth's climate remains a problem for experts who prepared the IPCC report. [USA Today] An atmospheric scientist with Langley Research Center has used images collected from satellite-borne instruments, such as MODIS on NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites, to determine that the Arctic has become cloudier since 2000, while no such trends in are apparent in Antarctica. [NASA Earth Observatory]
- An international team of climate scientists from six institutions around the world, using global temperature and sea level records collected over the last 17 years, cautioned against suggestions that the IPCC has previously overestimated the rate of climate change, especially with respect to the sea level changes, as they report that the observed sea level has been rising faster than models would suggest. [CSIRO]
- The executive director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) cautions that human activity is responsible for more changes to the planetary environment than those associated with climate. These include the exploited world fisheries and the extent of the domesticated land surface. [International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme]
Tracking moving continents -- A team of scientists led by a University of Leeds geophysicist is preparing to monitor the seismic events occurring in the Afar Desert of northern Ethiopia that would provide information on the movement of the African and Arabian continental plates. [EurekAlert!]
Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes -- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, including drought, floods, and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Concept of the Week: Sea Water Salinity and Carbon Dioxide

In view of the contemporary concern regarding global climate change, scientists are studying the various factors that govern the ocean's ability to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide. Concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide are on the rise primarily because of the burning of fossil fuels (i.e., coal, oil, natural gas). Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas (an atmospheric gas that absorbs and radiates infrared radiation) so that higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide may be contributing to global warming. The ocean's role in regulating the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide depends on the temperature, salinity, and biological components of surface waters.

As noted in Chapter 3 of your textbook, gases are more soluble in cold seawater than warm seawater. Hence, changes in sea surface temperature affect the ability of the ocean to absorb carbon dioxide. As noted in Chapter 1 of your textbook, photosynthetic organisms take up carbon dioxide and release oxygen. And through cellular respiration, all organisms release carbon dioxide. What about the effects of changes in salinity on the ocean's uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide? Research from the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii provides some insight on this question.

Since the late 1980s, scientists have been recording ocean conditions at a site (dubbed ALOHA) about 100 km (62 mi) north of Oahu. In 2003, David M. Karl, a biogeochemist at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, reported a decline in the rate at which surface ocean waters were absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In fact, in 2001, the rate of CO₂ uptake was only about 15% of what it was in 1989. Why the change in CO₂ uptake? In this region of the Pacific north of Hawaii, sea surface temperatures showed no significant change during the period of observation but precipitation decreased and evaporation increased. Less precipitation coupled with higher rates of evaporation caused the surface water salinity at ALOHA to increase by about 1%. Increasing salinity inhibits water's ability to absorb gases including carbon dioxide. Karl and his colleagues attribute 40% of the decline in the ocean's CO₂ uptake to the saltier waters. The balance of the decline may be due to changes in biological productivity or ocean mixing

Concept of the Week: Questions

With rising sea surface temperatures, the rate of evaporation of sea water [(increases)(decreases)].
With increasing salinity and constant temperature, the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide that is taken up by ocean water [(increases)(decreases)].

Historical Events

5 February 1924...Hourly time signals from the Royal Greenwich Observatory were broadcast for the first time. (Wikipedia)
5 February 1997...High winds pushed mountains of ice against the northern shore of Lake Erie crushing several houses and cottages in Colchester, Ontario. This phenomenon is known as ice shove. (The Weather Doctor)
5 February 2004 - Nineteen Chinese cockle-pickers from a group of 35 drowned after being trapped by rising tides in Morecambe Bay, England. (Wikipedia)
6 February 1933...The highest reliably observed ocean wave was observed by crew of the US Navy oiler, USS Ramapo, in the North Pacific during the night on its way from Manila to San Diego. The wave was estimated (by triangulation) to have a height of 112 feet. Average winds at the time were 78 mph. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (See additional discussion on highest ocean waves)
7 February 1969...USCGC Tern, commissioned on this date and stationed in New York, embodied an advanced concept in servicing aids to navigation. Her over-the-stern gantry system of handling buoys is unique. The automation and modernization of over-age, isolated lighthouses and light stations showed significant progress this year. A new, more effective version of the LAMP (Lighthouse Automation and Modernization Project) plan was promulgated in this year. (USCG Historian's Office)
7 February 1978...The worst winter storm of record struck coastal New England. The storm produced 27.5 inches of snow at Boston, and nearly 50 inches in northeastern Rhode Island. The fourteen-foot tide at Portland, ME was probably the highest of the century. Winds gusted to 79 mph at Boston, and reached 92 mph at Chatham, MA. A hurricane-size surf caused 75 deaths and 500 million dollars damage. (David Ludlum)
8 February 1987...A powerful storm produced blizzard conditions in the Great Lakes Region. North winds of 50 to 70 mph raised the water level of southern Lake Michigan two feet, and produced waves 12 to 18 feet high, causing seven million dollars damage along the Chicago area shoreline. It was the most damage caused by shoreline flooding and erosion in the history of the city of Chicago. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
8 January 2001...The log-carrying ship, Leo Forest, lost much of its cargo as over 2300 logs went overboard approximately 400 miles north of Adak, AK. The ship lost power in waves that were greater than 35 feet and the loss of the logs caused the ship to list 10 degrees to port (left) with the bow three feet down. Fortunately, the ship made safe passage to Dutch Harbor for repairs. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
9 February 1942...The French Liner Normandie, a 79,280-ton luxury ocean liner, burned and capsized in New York Harbor during its conversion to an Allied trip transport ship. (The History Channel)
10 February 1807...With the backing of President Thomas Jefferson, the US Coast Survey was authorized by Congress "to provide for surveying the coasts of the United States." The Coast Survey represents the oldest U.S. scientific organization to encourage commerce and to support a growing economy in a safe and efficient manner. (NOAA History)
10 February 1940...USCGC Bibb and Duane made the first transmissions as weather stations as part of the Atlantic Weather Patrol. (USCG Historian's Office)
11 February 1809...The American inventor, Robert Fulton patented his steamboat, the Clermont, for the first time, although he had made the first successful steamboat trip up the Hudson River from New York City to Albany, NY in 1807. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science)
11 February 1862...The Secretary of the Navy directed the formation of an organization to evaluate new inventions and technical development, which eventually led to the National Academy of Science. (Naval Historical Center)
11 February 1971...The US and the USSR, along with other nations, signed the multilateral Seabed Treaty outlawing the emplacement of nuclear weapons (or "weapons of mass destruction") on the ocean floor in international waters, or beyond a 12-mile coastal zone. (Wikipedia)